ANNOUNCING THE 2018 WINNING FILMS!

The Education Foundation of Millburn-Short Hills is putting students in the spotlight again this year and will be showcasing 9 winning films at the 7th Annual Millburn Film Fest. The Red Carpet Premiere will be on Friday, April 20th, 7:00 p.m. at Millburn High School and is made possible thanks to Academy Award Sponsors The Shannon Aronson Group and New York FilmAcademy, and Studio Sponsors Jodi Rubenstein & Joanna Parker-LentzRealty Team, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, PNC Wealth Management, and Producer Sponsor The Gonnella Team. The community is invited to view short family friendly films Millburn Middle & High school students have created, walk the red carpet, take home a complementary photo, and exit the event to a fanfare. Tickets are available online at www.millburnfilmfest.com

You will be inspired and amazed by the student films wide range of subject matter from an original music video, a documentary about the Holocaust, the turmoil of getting into college, and an animation showing the strength of women standing together. The superb selection of films chosen this year is thanks to the 2018 judging panel: Michael Klein, David Koh, Laraine Brennan-Barach, Cathy Scorsese, Victoria Plummer, Andrew Permision, Amy McGovern, Judith Kramer, Kathi Hecht, Donna Davis, Orna Greenberg. On the big screen this year will be “Coffee,” “In Plain Sight: A Hidden Child of the Holocaust,” “Parallel Lines,” “Procrastination,” “School Girls,” “Swindler,” “The Decision,” “Unburned,” and “Unexpected Gap Year.” The top filmmaker will receive a scholarship to New York Film Academy one-week summer film camp.

The youngest filmmaker this year, Carli Platt (Millburn Middle School 7th grader) takes on the complicated topic of the Holocaust in her film “In Plain Sight: A Hidden Child of the Holocaust.” The documentary chronicles the life of Wilhelmina De Kadt, now Willie Juhlin, a victim of the Holocaust. Though she wasn’t placed in a concentration camp, her life was taken in a different way; her parents, her childhood, even her religious identity were taken from her, as a Hidden Child of the Holocaust. Carli wrote, directed, edited & narrated this film and had her brother, Tyler Platt (MHS senior), film the interview for the documentary.

You don’t want to hesitate to head to the film fest this year or you may miss “Procrastination” a comedy by Daniel Lee (MMS 8th grader). The film starts off with a boy who realizes he hasn’t finished his essay due the next day. We are then sent through his wacky adventure of trying to write an essay. Daniel directed, filmed, edited, acted, wrote & submitted this entertaining satire.

In the documentary “School Girls,” we get a glimpse of the lives of three teens, Monica Taladtad and Jeanelyn & Georgelyn Batoy, who work as household help for a family so they can attend school in Makato, Philippines. Eliza Tagle made the journey to the Philippines where she filmed and interviewed the girls. A sophomore at MHS, Eliza directed, wrote, filmed and edited this documentary.

“Swindler” is an original song written and sung by Sofia Baran (sophomore at MHS) that showcases the importance of close friendships, and how much light is brought into one’s life through the support of others. Through this candid, intimate insight into a close friendship, discover how pure and healing friendship can be. Sema Madahar (MHS sophomore) directed, filmed, wrote & submitted this heartwarming music video. Sema had singer Sofia Baran as well as classmates Aoife Weiss, (MHS sophomore) Drew Demeterio (MHS sophomore) to act in the film

The college admissions process is stressful for everyone at Millburn High School. “The Decision” tells the story of two students that apply to their dream school and shows how their friendship is tested when their worst nightmare of differing decisions is realized. How much does admission mean, and how far will a student go to get in? Maddy Freeman and fellow seniors created this drama as a mass media project for Ms. Krueger’s class. This all star senior cast includes Maddy Freeman (producer, director, co-writer, co-cinematographer, editor, actor and submitter), Brad Klein (producer, co-writer, co-cinematographer, and actor), Sophie Richman (producer, co-writer, and actor), Jason Wei (producer, co-cinematographer, and actor), Ben Pearl (producer and actor), Ariel Neyman (producer and actor). Millburn High School’s Ms. Krueger and Dr. Keenan are supporting actors in the film.

Throughout history, strong and talented women have been attacked as witches. “Unburned” is the story of a young woman whose ability provokes fear and violence in her community. In her moment of need, she discovers that the support of other women is the only thing that can save her. Sophomore, Alex DeRosa, created this beautiful animated film “Unburned” with her digital artistry. Alex (sophomore MHS) directed, animated, edited, wrote & submitted this film.

“Unexpected Gap Year” is a coming of age film about a high school senior applying to colleges. The film follows Miriam who is trying to find her own path that may not be conventional, compared to her friends, and expectations of her family. Ariel Riseman (MHS senior) directed, edited, co-wrote, and submitted this film. The star of the film, Miriam Harrow (MHS senior) also co-wrote “Unexpected Gap Year” and shared the screen with actors Emily Fried, Rachel Broder, Vivian Harrow, Alex Harrow, Max Harrow, Sophia Hoodis, Amanda Model, Maanya Tandon, Holly Graziano.

If you can’t make it to the Red Carpet Premiere join us at the daytime encore performance on Thursday, April 26th at 11 a.m. at the Millburn Bow-Tie Cinema. In addition to the 9 winning films we will be screening two ENCORE EXTRAS – “Wasted Generation” by Kate Parker-Lentz and “Entrée” by Kyle Farscht. See you at the movies!